AAre WAA
bEA
I looked out the window as our shiny VW­­­­­—
now coated in multiple layers of dust—
whizzed past a small girl enjoying a grilled ‘Bhutta’ by the side of the road. We
were headed from Ganpatipule to Ratnagiri, Maharashtra’s mango capital. I could
literally feel the ‘Hapus’ warm in my hands
as its sweet as the juice dribbled down the
side of my mouth. My heart skipped a
beat – it had been seven years since I
last ate a mango. We turned around the
cliff of the Coastal Highway, and slowed
into the tiny village of Bhandarpule. At first
glance, there wasn’t much to look at aside
from the mud huts and the palm trees in
the distance. That’s until I saw the dilapidated sign announcing that the twin beaches
of Aare Ware were only a few metres away.
For a minute, the promise of discovering
a new beach made me forget my mango
craving. The turn-off to Ware wasn’t
promising, off to Ware wasn’t promising,
greetedas we were by a one lane black
sand driveway that bent into the palm

trees. Until, we neared the end of the pathway and silently stared into the distance.
I felt like we had stepped into another
world. The black sand of Ware glittered
silently in the sun as the waves lapped
repeatedly on the shore. The beach was
completely deserted. No people, no garbage, no noise. Just us. And sparkling blue
water so clean that you could see your feet
through it. We walked miles that afternoon.
I picked out shells that seemed to tell a story
of their own while he wrote me love notes
in the sand. I whooped and ran Baywatch
style into the water while he stood there
grinning, his toes sinking into the soft
sand. I gazed into the distance pondering life while he ran behind the
sea gulls simply.

Mumbai

ARE
ACH

Maharashtra

Ratnagiri

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

Ernakulam

Cochin

Kottayam

Madurai
Thekkady

Vandiperiyar

Punalur

Rajapalaiyam

Gavi
Spread across the beauty of Periyar Tiger
Reserve, Gavi is a quiet, beautiful and
pristine forest haven. It is at the eastern
extreme of the Pathanamthitta District at
3400 ft above MSL. These evergreen forests are abundant with magnificent Wildlife
including the tiger, elephants, leopards,
bears, Indian gaur, sambar, barking &
Mouse deers, lion tailed macaque, other
varieties of monkeys, Nilgiri Marten and a
lot more. If you are a birder, the forests
around Gavi are home to over 320 species of birds â&#x20AC;&#x201C;the great Indian hornbills,
sunbirds, woodpeckers, kingfishers and
myriads of mynas, dongos, cuckoos and
bulbuls-truly any birderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream! The
sheer beauty of this place is indeed worth
a closer look ! Here is nature at its unadulterated best. The road leading to the picturesque Gavi is blanketed by tea plantations,

which itself is a refreshing experience.
En route to Gavi are places of interest
like Mundakayyam, Kuttikanam, Peermedu and Vandiperiyar from where the
road deviates to Gavi.The famous pilgrim
destination, Sabarimala is a short trek
from Gavi. For those interested in observing the nocturnal wildlife, night safaris to
Kullur, Gavi Pullumedu, Kochu Pampa,
Pachakanam provide ample opportunities
for wildlife viewing.Another unique feature of Gavi is camping in the forests.
One can pitch a tent in the camping site,
which is a rarity in many Indian forests. As
the dusk stretches into the silence of the
night, one canfeel the presence of wildlife
in the middle of nowhere, an experience
that cannot be explained in words. There
are also tree top houses where one can
enjoy the avian life to the fullest.

M

ost
people when
first hear of Kasol,
confuse it with Kasoli.
This is because, Kasol is
an offbeat Himalayan town
situated very close to the Sikh
shrine of Manikaran.Manikaran is famous for two reasons or the combination
of the two reasons one, it hosts a famous
Sikh temple (gurudwara) and two, it has
hot water springs.Kasol has some feathers
to its hat as well. It is famous amongst the
Israelis and Italian tourists and it is famous
for hash and marijuana. Neha and I had
traveled to Rishikesh with our new couple
friends Sonal and Amitoz the week earlier
and since then, we all were pretty worked
up about another trip. Intially, Neha and I
had planned for Kanha Tiger Reserve but
that was sold out completely; thus, our
plan shifted from tiger spotting to cooling
ourselves off in the hills. Sonal was quite
keen on going to Kasol and its surrounding areas as she had been hearing travel
stories from her office colleagues and
wanted to explore and experience this part
of the country. The dates decided for the
trip were 12-16 June 2014. As we inched
closer to the departure dates, each one of
us started researching on the different aspects of the trip. Amitoz bought camping
gear after I ranted and yapped about how
cool and exciting experiencecamping is.
This opened an option of campingeither at Kasol or Tosh. While
Neha and Sonal looked up
hotels and their reviews,
I checked out the
route plan, road
condition and
overall review
of these
places
from
HV
Kumar.
At
the
same time,
I wrote to Dheeraj Sharma of Devil
on
Wheels for his inputs. Gurgaon to Kasol:
Thursday 12 June 2014 1 am to 3.30 pm
Thanks to the inputs from HVK Facebook
forum, we were aware that the road up

DAY 1
to
Bilaspur,
Himachal Pradesh
has heavy traffic and one
must start early to munch as many
miles as possible. Thus, we started at
1 am from Gurgaon and by 1.15 am we had
picked up Sonal & Amitoz from their home and we embarked on our journey.
We found traffic right from NH8 and
this forced us to take the internal roads of
Delhi to reach the Burari turn to NH1.
We stopped over at Gulshan Dhabba for
food and bought some folk Punjabi music
CDs from one the shops near by. Our next
stopover was for fuel near Ambala and
then we took the Shambhu Roopnagar
road towards Bilaspur. Our plan was to
cross Bilaspur before 7 am but we entered Swarghat by only 7. We were running
behind schedule but it was not that a
big deal. Neha and I were alternating the
driving after every hour or so and our
next halt was after Bilaspur for food.
By this time, Dheeraj Sharma responded
to my query and connected me to Doulos
Jose (who happens to work in the
same building that I do- small
world). Doulos had been
to Kasol a week before and he gave us
valuable tips about
tips about the
place.Through
Doulos we
got in touch
with Om
Negi
who
runs
a
camping
site just outside
Kasol. So, while we ordered Maggi and
some paranthas, I called up Om Negi and
told him about ur arrival plans and fixed up
a meeting. The journey from Bilaspur to
Bhunter was smoother than earlier and

HIMACHAL PRADESH
Pathankot

Kasol

Gaggal
Bhunter

PUNJAB

Shimla

Tosh

Chandigarh

HARYANA
Delhi

much
faster.
We reached
Bhunter around half
past one and bought some
beers and breezers. o At Kasol we met
up one of the camp organizers Hemu Negi
(cousin of Om) who helped us finding a
secure parking spot and started the 25
minutes walk to the camp. To reach the
camp, we had to walk across a narrow
suspension bridge over the raging Parvati
river. What followed then, was a beautiful
nature trail. We did get a bit impatient and
kept bothering Hemu with the repeated
questions â&#x20AC;&#x153;are we there yetâ&#x20AC;?? The camping
site was towards the right of the nature
trail and we came across a cemented
house over looking a vast stretch of leveled
land with several tents pitched on it. We
scouted for a place closest to the river and
pitched our tents. While we were close to
the river, we were at a safe distance and at

an ele
vation of
about 5 feet.
We settled and
ordered some pakodas and then climbed
down the rocks and tried the
water. It was at 10C and we could
not bring ourselves to taking a dip in the
river. The water was perfect for chilling
the drinks that we brought along. We
took some photographs and spent nearly
an hour at the rocks. We returned to our
camp and played a game of cards and also
couple of games of badminton and then
as the night approached, fatigue started to
creep in. We were awake since the day
before, slogged off our asses as corporate
slaves and then embarked on this road trip
practically without rest. Dinner came inchicken gravy, chapatis and vegetarian food
for Sonal. Along with the food, came some
unwanted guests- dogs. There were several of them around. I would presume these
stayed on the property to guard against the

wild animals on the prowl
in the neighboring forests. The
chicken didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t taste like chicken and
the it had been cut into way too small pieces.
We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fancy it as much but then when
you go camping, this was like elixir from gods
and refusing it would have been crazy. As
the food settled down, my eyes began to feel
heavy and I had to call it a day. I crawled
into my tent and zipped up my sleeping
bag. Neha too joined me soon and then
I heard Amitoz and Sonal saying good
night as I was going into a deep slumber.

DAY 2
I had slept in the same position for hours
and many bones of body nearly crushed
under my own weight. At the break of dawn,
I unzipped the tent window to see the surroundings outside. It was a beautiful day, a
day I had not seen in many months. Soon,
we all woke up and we ordered for some tea
from the camp organizers. We also decided
to go up till Tosh today and probably spent
the night there. Here again, Om Negi helped
us with some hotels in Tosh and gave us the
bad news. Tosh had no places to camp.
Doulos had too shared the same piece of
information. The toilets at the camp were
quite decent and we comfortably freshened
up, packed our belongings, paid Om Negi.
He charged us only for the food and not for
the space. At some places, where Neha
and I had camped earlier, people took a
nominal space rentals to pitch our tents and
we were quite surprised that he allowed
us to stay for free. We bid good bye and
as nomads started walking back to Kasol.
We had breakfast at Moon dance cafe aka
German baker. The food was great and so
was the music. We decided to visit the place
again for food on our way back home. The
car was found in thesame condition as we
left and it was a relief. We had parked our
car at the parking space of Kasol Camps.
We did inquire from their tariffs and they
are as of June 2014 :
1. Rs 500 to pitch your own tent
2. If you want to use their tents then
the tariff ranges from Rs 1500
to Rs 3500.
Food and beverages extra. From Kasol, now
we headed towards Tosh which is about
a 90 minute drive from Kasol. The first
town and one of major attractions is

the
town
of Manikarn about
5 km ahead of
Kasol. At Manikarn, a
road forks up on the right hand
side and this is the road that goes up
to Bansheri. The road ahead was mostly
rough, with loose gravel, water puddles
and potholes. Though it is very much doable
(easily) in a 2wheel drive, we engaged 4H
just to gain speed and stability at certain
points.
We stopped for a
photography
session
and
then

headed
the

to
town of
Bansheri. Here, we could see
the
construction of a dam and it seemed as if
this place is waiting to be commercialised.
From Bhansheri, Tosh is about 3 km steep
ascent with extremely rough roads. Doulos
had warned me of this and had advised to
take a taxi in case it was raining. He did not
know back then, that we were in a 4wd
Scorpio. We did most of the ascent in two
wheel drive but then we halted at a steep
angle for photographs. Momentum was lost
and now we needed traction to continue our
journey. 4H was useless, and no way, I
wanted to exert stress on the clutch. So,
this time 4 L was engaged to climb. The car
just glided over the rough terrain. Should
the readers of this post wish to take their
vehicle up till Tosh, my recommendation
is, keep the momentum stable and any
vehicle can do this ascent. At Tosh, we had
to park our vehicle just outside the village
because there is no motorable road inside. A weak and narrow pedestrian bridge
is the only entrance to the village. We

called up
Mr. Tari (Om Negi’s
contact) owner of the Pink
Floyd hotel and asked him to
get directions to his hotel. He
asked us to walk into the village and
ask anyone for directions. We decided to
first check out the place and then assess
what all would be required for a night’s
stay and then bring in our luggage. The
lanes of the village became quite narrow
at certain stretches. The hotel is good 15
minutes walk from the parking spot. On the
way to Pink Floyd we checked out another
place which was just in the beginning of
the village and the tariffs were around
Rs.200 a night, no attached bathrooms.
The only advantage was that from its balcony
we were able to see our car in the distance.
We reached Pink Floyd, drained out of
energies but did not really fancy the place. It
was good, no doubt but we found the views
from Hotel Sunset better. So we took two
rooms at Hotel Sunset at Rs. 300 each.
There was hot water, attached bathrooms
and electricity for charging our camera
batteries. There is a small tuck shop in the
premises and a kitchen which can serve
Italian, Israeli and Indian food. Wow! I am
being greedy here, nevertheless, it is worth
a mention- the downside are the bed sheets.
They have dark colored bed sheets and pillow covers which means that they are not
washed for quite sometime. It is advised
to carry your own bedsheet and pillow
covers. We ordered lunch and
then Amitoz and I left the
girls at the hotel and went
to fetch our belongings
for the night. We were
back in about 40 minutes and the girls were
nowhere to be seen
from a distance. While
we had gone lugging
bags, Neha and Sonal
had gone on a short trek.
They came back just in
time of our arrival.

From the
hotel, we could see in the
distance two waterfalls and two
bridges. One of these waterfalls was
a man-made cemented slide, yet the
sheer force of the water was so magnificent that one could perceive it from the
hotel. We enquired about the KheerGanga
trek for next day but dropped the idea as
we were short on time. While the locals
said that one can do the round trip in a day,
we urban corporate slaves were not the lot
to walk so much in one day. We definitely
needed two days. The village was quite
deserted and from the hotel operators we
learnt that most of the tourist have gone to
the village of Pulga for a two day “rave”
party. This part of the Himalayas is famous
for rave parties. Weed is commonly called
olive as it is sold in small black balls which
resemble black olives. The hotel also told
us about another waterfall which was 15
minutes away and we decided to check it
out as there was still couple of hours of
daylight available. We misunderstood
the directions and started walking on a
different path. The 15 minutes trek took
us that we had come the wrong way. We
returned and found the correct trail. While
walking, photographing, we met some
fellow tourists and made another mistake
of asking them for directions. These blokes
were dressed in clothes one would wear to
an office on a Friday. Totally out of place.
They misguided us and put us on a different
trail. Two of our group members tripped
after different locations and it was kind
of disheartening. Fortunately, no one got
hurt. Around quarter to
seven, we gave up the
idea of the waterfall
and headed back
and decided to
conquer it next
day. An interesting thing
happened
here, we saw
a man with a
child playing
on a natural
rock slide.

Himachal Pradesh
Kasol

Day3

Day 2

Bhunter

Tosh

Swarghat
Bilaspur

Punjab

NH1

Haryana

Burari

NH8

Gurgaon

Day 1

New Delhi

The crazy ones
Amitoz and Neha were the
first ones to burn their butts and
Sonal and I needed some persuasion. As the last light approached, it
was time to reach the hotel. We ordered
chicken and snacks and also got hold of
olives. It was a full moon night and we
stayed on the terrace munching, drinking,
smoking and laughing till the temperature
dropped to a moderate chill of 13 C. At this
time (around 10 pm) the tuck shop and the
kitchen
also shut down and we
retired
to our rooms.

DAY 3
I was the
first one
to get up
and get
ready.
Woke
up rest
of the
party with
some tea
and Parle-G. Once
everyone
was ready,
we headed
towards the
first waterfall
which everyone
at Tosh was
talking about.
The hotel staff
advised us
against
the waterfalls
visible from the hotel.
They said that the

water
is so fierce
and rogue that
one wrong move
and you will end up
in a watery grave. Who
listens to such things- not us!
Anyway, this time we reached
the 15 minutes away waterfall
in about 15 minutes. Spent about
an hour there and now headed
for the falls which mesmerized us
since our arrival in Tosh. Here is the
route which we followed in June 2014.
On the way to the “famous” waterfall
there is a rock on which someone
had painted waterfall 100 m ahead. At
this rock a small water stream trickles
down and it also seems to be a dumping
ground. A narrow and rough trail goes along
with water stream. Now keep following the
only trail and keep descending for about 30
minutes. The entire route is quite beautiful except for a 20m garbage dump in the
beginning. I have seen Doodhsagar from
up close and trust me when I say this, this
particular one is comparable to Doodhsagar
and is just one day drive from Delhi. We
reached back hotel around half past one and
told them that we would be checking out. At
3 pm we were in our car and headed to the
German bakery at Kasol for lunch. Kasol
was crowded. We tried hard for a parking space but could not find it. We tried
parking at the taxi parking area but the locals
became too aggressive and thus we left. We
stopped at The Himalayan Retreat at Jari
and enjoyed some really good food. Tried
the local dishes – Dham, Kachori and Siddu
Momo. Here on, we drove nearly non-stop
till Gurgaon stopping twice on the way, once
for tea and another time for graveyard shift
food at NH1. It took us nearly 9 hours to
reach Kiratpur Sahib and another 6 hours
to reach Gurgaon. Around 6.30 am, on
Sunday we reached Gurgaon. It was a trip
successfully completed and the experience
was too good. Special thanks to Sonal for
picking up the destination, Dheeraj Sharma
for connecting to Doulos and to Doulos Jose
for helping us connect to Om Negi. Now it
was time to sort out the 1800 photographs
clicked by us during the three days. By the
way, we all tried our hands on our new photography gear. Sonal and Amitoz brought
their new Nikon D3100, Neha and I got our
new Nikon D5300 and a Nikon AW120.
IPhone 5s also proved to be an amazing
photography device with its fast f/2 lens.
The trip not only helped us rejuvenate.Ciao!

T

he
awe-inspiring
vistas of this hidden
canyon will make you
fall in love with Meghalaya
all over again. Perched in the East
Khasi Hills of Shillong, Laitlum Canyons
is a little-explored haunt of the mountainous state of Meghalaya. Laitlum
translates to ‘end of hills’ and this sublimely beautiful hilltop appears to be true
to its name. At Laitlum, all one can see are
breathtaking gorges and steep winding
stairways that snake their way down to
the lush valley. This is the reason why,
for a bird’s eye view of Shillong’s
magnificent surroundings, there
is no better place than the
Laitlum Canyons. The following pictures capture
some of the raw beauty of this relatively
undiscovered
gorge that is
ideal for treks.
But for those
with adventure
in their hearts
and dreams of
distant mountains
in their eyes, only an
actual trip to this majestic
hill paradise will suffice. The
Amphitheatre of Meghalaya
The scenic hill slopes of Laitlum
are often called the amphitheatre of
Meghalaya. Unending as far as one can
see, they are painted in a multitude of hues
- from earthy browns and verdant greens to
blushing reds at dawn and dusk.. A Trekker’s
Paradise The beautiful rocky trail to Laitlum
is a trekker’s paradise. The terrain is a bit
difficult to navigate but it has some of the
best views in the world and the freshest air
one can breathe. This is a trek worth adding
to your bucket list of trekking expeditions in
India. Living On the Edge, Literally! Narrow
and uneven rocky paths lead to several
small slate-roofed houses perched at great
heights of the canyon, each with its very own
picture perfect view. The residents literally
farm on the edges of these mist-shrouded
cliffs that plunge sharply into the valley
below. The Stream of Your Dreams The
gurgling Laitlum stream and its quaint wooden bridge invite travellers to just stand and

stare at
the magical
landscape surrounding them. Get
a traditional Khasi lunch packed at a local
eatery for a picnic at this exquisitely beautiful 270-degree viewpoint that provides a
glimpse of four waterfalls ! In
The Abode of the Clouds Meghalaya is call
ed the ‘abode of the clouds” and at Laitlum
Canyons one can experience why. Blanketing the entire canyon in an ethereal white
shroud, the mist swirls and moves with
the wind. Sprawling Meadows The flat
grassy hilltop overlooking the silent and
peaceful valley is the perfect place to bask
in some glorious mountain sunshine. For
those who forgot to pack their lunch, a lone

Laitlum
Canyons
Meghalaya

shop
provides
succour
in the form of snacks
and steaming hot chai at
the entrance to the vast meadow. A
Truly Rustic Ropeway Once atop Laitlum
Canyon, one can see Rasong, a small hamlet
nestled deep in the lush green ridges of the
Laitlum gorge. The 300 residents of Rasong
rely on an old ropeway pulley to transport
food grains and essential commodities
down to the valley and up to the hilltop.
A 3000-Step-Stairway to Heaven A long
steep stairway, hewn out of the mountain
and lined with fern covered rocks, winds
its way down the verdant slopes to the tiny
hamlet of Raslong. This stairway, which
passes through sprawling bamboo plantations and colourful bursts of orchids, is
the only route between the village and
the nearest market, and has 3000 steps !
The Hardy Locals of the Khasi Hills On days
when the rusty old pulley is out of order, the

Laitlum

Shillong

sight
of locals carrying traditional
bamboo baskets
(filled with all sorts of stuff) as they climb up
the steep mountainside, is very common in
Laitlum. The main cash crop of Rasong is the
broom plant, which the locals use to make
traditional brooms sold in the markets of
Shillong.Knocking at the Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Door The village of Smit in Laitlum is the traditional seat
of power of the Hima Khyrim, a sub-tribe of
the Khasis. The village also has a traditional house, the Iing Shad, that belongs
to the King of the Khyrim and is believed
to be more than 100 years old. In autumn,
the striking Nongkrem dance is performed
outside this royal residence. But, despite
its gradually increasing popularity, Laitlum
Canyons still remains a little piece of heaven.